After I told him I’d give him space if he needed it, I haven’t heard from him! What next?

Hi, I’m in a LDR online. We do know each other in person but a few months ago reconnected. Things have been going well but recently he has been going through much stress with his business and children. Things (for him) seem to be getting worse daily. I didn’t know what to do as we are so far apart. I sent him this “I feel like I'm too much for you right now. I feel that you need space and have many other things that eat you. I want to give you space to do what's right for you. I'm very worried about you and if you need me, I'm here for you. I love you. I do not want to contribute to your stress.” I have not heard anything and I know he read the message. What should I do?

I'm sorry I completely misread your letter so my previous answer was totally useless - I thought you'd never met him before, I do apologise. If this man has not responded to you then I would leave him well alone. If he really wanted to contact you, and be with you, he would make every effort to do so. It's best to move on and try and find somebody more suitable.

What you should do is to stop wasting your time. If you have never met this man you can't possibly know whether he's telling you the truth about anything he ever says. I've been through all this myself online. If you haven't met them after two or three emails then move on. The man who's worth his salt will want to meet you. I met my husband on line. We had two emails then he said we should meet. He was much better in real life then on screen ! Each of us had met others before neither of us had gelled with anybody else. So I would say to you "keep searching" because this one's not right for you. Do you really want a man who's full of problems ? Is that what you really want in your life ? I doubt it.

You should perhaps learn to say what you mean and mean what you say. It sounds to me like you sent him that message not to be taken literally, but in the intent or hope that he would protest, explain, apologize , reassure you ... that you got him all wrong, that he realizes he's been distant but he'll work on things and try to improve...stuff like that.

Ok, I get it, it would be nicer of him answering you and maybe thanking you for being understanding etc.

OTH, how would this be " giving him space "- if he has to engage in conversations with you , explain and detail everything that goes on in his life and through his mind, justify himself, etc. ?

You offered him space to do what's right for him, and he took you at face value. If he chooses to cut off contacts , it means that he feels, with all the troubles he's got, that cutting contacts IS the best thing for him.

You seem surprised and taken aback that he is doing exactly what YOU have suggested . Then why suggesting it in the first place, I wonder, if you nver wanted to be taken seriously.

Then again, you don't say WHEN you sent this message . If it's a matter of hours , or a day or two - it's early to freak out . Maybe he wants to say something, but, as you say, he's got many problems and he is giving priority to those. If you wanted to give him space- he also needs space and a little time to clear his mind and sort out what he feels about you / your relationship / your message.

Just saying. With this I am not encouraging to sit there with bated breath waiting that he turns his life around and / or gets good at stress management. Au contraire ! LDRs are always so difficult and hard to maintain even in the best possible conditions, when people are happy and get along great and have no stressors in their life. Imagine when there ARE lots of problems for either one, or both.

This is a recent relationship, and already started on a wrong foot and with some drama- it does not look promising. Hopefully, in just a few months , you should not have already developped such a strong attachment to make it too painful disentangling yourself from a situation which is not making either one of you happy ?